Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo
Description: A National Marine Fisheries Service regulation requires that herring fishing boats allow an additional person on board their small boats to serve as a monitor, tracking compliance with federal regulations. The fishermen must also pay the monitor’s salary of around $700 per day. Overall, the regulation reduces fishing profits by about 20%. Loper Bright Enterprises, a fishing company in New England, and other fisheries sued to challenge this federal government rule, arguing that NMFS lacked statutory authority to force them to pay for these monitors.
US Supreme Court: Federal officials are not above the law
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake regarding a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court Friday in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which the court overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council and ruled that federal agency officials must be held accountable when they exceed their authority:
“The U.S. Supreme Court has rightly held that unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats can’t weaponize federal laws to violate Americans’ most fundamental rights. Federal agency officials frequently disrespect Americans’ most cherished principles—including religious freedom and the sanctity of life—by imposing personal political agendas that Congress has not authorized. Now, the court has wiped away a major roadblock that prevented Americans from holding government officials accountable. For too long, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council allowed federal agencies to avoid responsibility, and we agree with the court’s decision to overturn it. Not only does this ruling force bureaucrats to do their job; it also protects the First Amendment from being abused by the executive branch. This is a landmark win for the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of law.”
In its decision, the Supreme Court wrote the following:
“Chevron is overruled. Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the [Administrative Procedure Act] requires...[C]ourts need not and under the APA may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous.”
Last July, ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Christian Employers Alliance, urging the court to stop federal agencies from imposing mandates and spending tax dollars that harm the unborn, devalue religious freedom, and contradict biological distinctions based on sex.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Julie Marie Blake
Julie Marie Blake serves as senior counsel for regulatory litigation at Alliance Defending Freedom. Over the last decade, she has been on the front lines of high-profile, precedent-setting cases challenging federal overreach in courts across the country. Blake served as deputy solicitor general for the state of Missouri from 2017 to 2020 and as assistant solicitor general for the state of West Virginia from 2013 to 2017. In these roles, she argued 26 federal and state appeals, including before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Before entering government service in 2013, Blake was a litigation associate at Baker Botts L.L.P., where she served as volunteer amicus counsel in several ADF cases, including Town of Greece v. Galloway. Following law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Paul J. Kelly, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 2009. She received her B.A. in Politics and Theology & Religious Studies phi beta kappa from the Catholic University of America in 2006. She is a 2007 Blackstone Fellow. Blake is admitted to practice in multiple states, the Supreme Court, and in many federal district and appellate courts.
ABOUT Matt Bowman
Matt Bowman serves as senior counsel and director of regulatory practice for Alliance Defending Freedom, where he leads the team focusing on the impact of administrative law on religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and family. From 2017 to 2020, Bowman was a senior executive service appointee in the Trump administration, serving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Deputy General Counsel, and then in the Office for Civil Rights. Prior to joining HHS, Bowman was an accomplished litigator at ADF for over ten years. Before joining ADF in 2006, Bowman served as a law clerk for Judges Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Michael A. Chagares, at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and for Judge John M. Roll at the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Bowman earned his J.D. summa cum laude and was first in his class at Ave Maria School of Law in 2003. He is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and Michigan and is admitted to practice at the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal appellate and district courts.